Like all Tragically Hip fans, your families and your friends, we here in Buffalo are gutted by the news of Gord Downie’s cancer diagnosis. We have nothing but our love and gratitude to send your way, and so we send them, in abundance.

We can’t help but rail against the injustice of it all – that a man so gifted, so kind, so intelligent, humorous and generous of spirit would be faced with such a mountain to climb. It isn’t fair. Life rarely is.

We feel we know you, Gord, and some among us do, through personal interactions that left indelible impressions. Even those who don’t, have been touched by the generosity you’ve displayed in your artistry and through your intense, playful, compelling and sometimes shamanistic performances on Buffalo stages over the past quarter century.

Music, we know, is a conduit between spirits, one that transcends language. We experience it so personally, so subjectively, our emotions fully open, the hair on our arms standing at attention. It’s intense, this communal transference of energy and soulfulness. So it follows that we feel a connection with you, who have been our gateway to music’s garden of earthly delights on so many occasions. When you named one of your finest albums “We Are the Same,” we felt this was a nod to us, somehow.

Sure, these were temporary respites from harsh realities, an ephemeral – yet-majestic cathedral made of smoke that dissolved soon after you left the stage. But we know that, when it comes to music, “nothing is but believing makes it so,” and we felt changed, transformed by something that we experienced as incredibly real.

And we want to feel it again.

We’ve no right, after all you’ve given and considering all that you’re going through right now, to ask you for anything. When you announced that the Hip would be doing a short summer tour, we were more than moved by the selflessness and bravery of the act, the deep bonds of brotherhood between you as musicians and friends, and the obvious love you feel for your fans.

We understand that your first priority is to your fans in Canada, your home, a country that has properly and sagely declared you a national treasure. But we here in Buffalo, your second home, would love to see you again, too.

We are the same. And we’d love to share our love and gratitude in person.

Jeff Miers– The News' music critic since 2002, Jeff Miers also compiles the "90 Minutes" series where he highlights things to do in various Western New York neighborhoods. Miers co-hosts the monthly Gusto Vinyl Happy Hour at the Sportsmen's Tavern.